Used to listen to DJ sets mostly when I was a kid and had some favorite DJs like Jeff Mills, Cristian Vogel, Claude Young, even early (90s - ~2001) Richie Hawtin. So eclectic genre bending selections and flow mixing skills was the thing for me.

Heh same man, same. Hugely fun to mix up too, which I still do from time to time.

Still listen to harder techno mixes when I'm working and on the move. Gets boring quickly just sat around.

Dave Clarke is still one of the best techno DJs of all time for me. He really knows his stuff and has the skills to keep the music engaging and exciting.

I agree, techno and physical work are meant for each other. Moving furniture, painting rooms, chopping wood, you name it

You probably heard of this one too, then:

Surgeon was ableton-bender (still is I guess), a perfect storm.

Ooooff that's real nice! Another one to look forward to, thanks!

Still a vinyl jock fan but def appreciate how Ableton etc frees up DJs to incorporate non four-to-the-floor stuff without the risk of train wrecking.

Agree with JakeMandell about the flow being important. Too stop start isn't good with minimal techno. It's all about subtle changes - which perhaps is more appreciable, on a visceral level, when played loud.

Considering techno a "generation past being new or exciting" is focused on the processes of making the music, and certain situations for listening to it. However, that also misses the experience of hearing techno in a specific environments (e.g. raves). That's a vital, formative experience for many in every generation, and justifies techno's continued existence as a modern artform, imo. The idea that newer generations should automatically find their own unique creation to have an experience similar to raving is half-baked, imo.